Solid alkaline detergent compositions are widely used for household and industrial dishwashing, laundering clothing and general surface cleansing. The greater amount of such cleaning compositions consumed consists of solid granules, tablets or pellets and solid blocks. Solid compositions are advantageous for their improved handling and safety, elimination of component segregation during transportation and storage and increased concentration of active components within the composition. These detergent compositions typically incorporate a source of alkalinity such as an alkali metal hydroxide, carbonate, bicarbonate, silicate or mixtures thereof and a hardness sequestering agent or builder as their primary cleaning components. The hardness sequestering agent acts to condition the wash water by chelating or otherwise complexing the metal cations responsible for the precipitation of alkali metal builder salts and detergents. The alkaline components impart detergency to the compositions by breaking down acidic and proteinaceous soils.
The solid detergents are typically used by dissolving the solid detergent with water. For example laundry applications may use a water spray-on dispenser. In the dispenser, the detergent is combined with a major proportion of water producing a detergent concentrate solution that is added to wash water in a washing machine to form a wash solution. In other applications, the detergent concentrate solution is used directly, commonly referred to as a use solution. The use solution or wash solution, when contacted with a soiled article, successfully removes the soil from the article. Such detergency (soil removal) is most commonly obtained from a source of alkalinity used in manufacturing the detergent. In particular, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,595,520, 4,680,134, 6,177,392, and 6,150,324 illustrate the use of solid technologies for a variety of applications.
In order to be effective for these applications it is necessary that the components of the solid detergent dissolves readily in the aqueous medium which is employed and the components are stable in the detergent concentrate solution and use solution. The present invention is directed to novel compositions and methods to improve the dissolution rate of tablets and blocks as well as enhance the cleaning ability of the solubilized solid detergent composition.